Potentially contaminated land mail out starts today

Only a small percentage of those landowners whose
Christchurch properties have recently been identified as
potentially contaminated will need to do anything about it,
says Environment Canterbury Investigations and Monitoring
Director Ken Taylor.

From today, Environment Canterbury
begins a four-week mail-out to the owners of about 11,000
Christchurch properties that may have soil contaminated by
chemicals or hazardous substances remaining in the ground
from a previous use of the land, such as an orchard, market
garden or landfill.

“People have a right to know what
their land has been used for in the past if it could have
contaminated the soil. Most people receiving notification
will not need to do anything. It’s only those landowners
needing to carry out major land repairs, foundation work or
rebuilds as a result of the earthquakes who will have to
take any action,” Mr Taylor says.

The number of
properties likely to be affected because of significant land
damage (EQC Increased Vulnerability to Liquefaction) is 665
and a further 450 affected by having to undertake a major
rebuild.

“In most instances, major repairs are likely
to be covered by either EQC (land repairs) or their private
insurer (rebuilds), which means the necessary consents and
soil testing work would be managed for the landowner,” he
says.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Ramon Pink
says that there is very low risk to health from living on
contaminated land.

“Even if a property is contaminated,
it is very unlikely that the level of contamination will be
high enough to result in any health issues,” says Dr
Pink.

Dr Pink says that there are some simple things
people can do – such as washing your hands after being in
the garden – that will further reduce any health risks.
For more information on minimising any potential health risk
go towww.cph.co.nz/HAIL

Landowners not
engaged in major land repair or rebuilding may choose not to
get their soil tested.

“In many cases, the soil will be
fine. Just because someone’s land has been an orchard, for
instance, does not necessarily mean hazardous substances
were actually used or buried there, just that they could
have been,” Mr Taylor says. “It’s our job to record
this and let the landowner know.”

Based on our
experience, it’s not that common to find concentrations of
contaminants on a Canterbury site high enough to cause
long-term health effects, Mr Taylor says.

Environment
Canterbury has been working closely with environmental
science experts, EQC, the Christchurch City Council,
Ministry for the Environment and CERA, to ensure people
understand the options available to them whether they are
engaged in rebuilding a home or
not.

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